(Fox) METUCHEN, N.J. – "Welcome Back Kotter" actor Robert Hegyes died Thursday in New Jersey, from a suspected heart attack.

Hegyes was a star of the 1970s comedy — with his character Juan Epstein famous for producing faked absence letters from "Epstein’s Mother" and "Epstein’s Mother’s Doctor" — and was also one of its directors.

The Star-Ledger reported the 60-year-old died at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., after suffering chest pains at his Metuchen home Thursday morning,

His brother Mark Hegyes told The Star-Ledger that the actor had suffered a heart attack a couple of years ago and had not been in full health.